8 posts from June 2013

I find this report to be quite helpful when it comes to managing your accounts receivable on a regular basis. In fact, I like to call it the "dialing for dollars" report, since it provides all the information needed to make those calls on overdue accounts.

To access the QuickBooks collections report for your accounts receivable, click Reports > Customers and Receivables > Collections Report. You'll see a report that looks like this sample (click the image for a larger view):

Everything you need to be informed when picking up the phone to get the status of overdue invoices!

Now that you have the necessary information, it is just a matter of scheduling time for your collection activities. Remember, every dollar you have in accounts receivable is a dollar that isn't working hard within your business!

In fact, depending on the version of QuickBooks you are using, you may even have two options for printing them.

USING THE INVOICE OR THE SALES ORDER

If you are using the Pro version of QuickBooks, the picking list can be printed from the create invoice screen.

If you are using the Premier or Enterprise editions of QuickBooks, the picking list can be printed from either the create sales order OR the create invoice screen - your choice.

The picking list is really just another "version" of either the invoice or sales order. In fact, you'll find them in the list of templates (Lists > Templates). You simply jump between these versions of the templates to print out what you need for the particular order at hand.

The screen shot below shows where to find the picking list template when using sales orders (it is in the same location when using invoices):

Bonus: You can customize your picking lists in QuickBooks just like you can do with an invoice. Add your logo, add or delete columns or fields, change the fonts or other customizations are just a click away.

Just like the contents of the filing cabinets in your office, the "digital filing cabinet" that stores your QuickBooks inventory list can get out of order too.

Here's the good news - the fix for a misbehaving inventory list is easy once you know how to do it.

A few things to clarify before proceeding:

The sample inventory list below is being displayed in what QuickBooks calls the "hierarchical view", where sub-items are "indented" under the main/parent item:

This same list can be displayed in "flat view" so that all the items line up flush with the left side of the list:

You can easily control which view you see by visiting the Item button in the lower left hand side of the item list.

TO SORT OR NOT TO RE-SORT

NOTE: The Pro and Premier versions of QuickBooks require you to be in single user mode to do this. Enterprise allows the re-sort to be done in multi-user mode.

Regardless of the type of view you have for your inventory list, the process of re-sorting it is exactly the same. Simply open your inventory list, click View (in the menu bar at the top), and then Re-sort List.

A big, scary message appears about QuickBooks returning the list to its' original order...

Answer "OK" to this and your list will be resorted. The default is by type (i.e. service, inventory part, non-inventory part), then by name within the type.

Just a couple of observations to share as an independent QuickBooks consultant from out here in the cheap seat section of the Intuit ballpark...

To me, the handwriting is on the wall that there will come a time (my hunch is sooner rather than later) that we hit the end of the road for the desktop versions of QuickBooks (meaning the Pro, Premier and/or Enterprise editions) and a migration to the online version of QuickBooks is mandated (or a move to a completely different package such as Xero is made).

Why do I think this?

Have you visited the main QuickBooks web site lately? The home page makes absolutely ZERO reference to the desktop versions of QuickBooks. It has been this way for a number of months now.

In fact, if you were a first time visitor to the site, you'd likely not even know there were any other versions of QuickBooks available. You have to click through one or two levels of the site to even get to the full listing of QuickBooks products.

A 2012 interview with Intuit CEO Brad Smith revealed the following nugget of knowledge - "QuickBooks owns 91-92% of the small business software marketplace.
Between 2005-2007, we dedicated 75-80% of our engineering resources to
desktop and a much smaller percentage was dedicated to the Cloud. Today
those percentages have reversed—75-80% of our engineering resources are
invested in Cloud development. I think this clearly represents our focus
and our commitment to moving online."

The significance of this comment can't be understated - it means the development of new features and functionality in future desktop versions is signficantly underweighted in the portfolio of software products compared to the features that may be added to the online version in the months ahead.

The release of QuickBooks 2013 sheds some light on this shift in priorities - other than the overhaul to the "look and feel" of the interface, the 2013 version was really lacking in the addition of other significant improvements in functionality (and many of those that were added required users to pay extra to get them in the Advanced Inventory module!).

Granted, because the installed base of the desktop versions of QuickBooks is so large, this shift isn't going to happen in the next few months. However, knowing the ever increasing speed of change in the world of technology, the dawning of an online only world for QuickBooks software may be here sooner than you want it to be.

Maybe I'll be retired by then...

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

What is your take on the future evolution of the QuickBooks product line based on your vantage point?

Have you had experience with the online version of QuickBooks to see how it compares/differs from the desktop versions?